What the Danish library says to recommend the book "Dilo and the Call of the Deep".
Lektørudtalelse (oo/o2) 2 269
193 7
Dobbs, Horace E.: Dilo og røsten fra dybet/ på dansk ved Alice
Skriver. - Lotus 111 sider.
You clearly feel that the
writer of this book has a big knowledge, lots of experiences and
great love for dolphins. He has written an expert book for
children about "The magic of dolphins" in 1991. In this
book he brings a lot of knowledge about the life of dolphins in a
fictional form. Recommendable to read for children from around 6
years. As the language is rather simple the book can be read from
children themselves from around 10 years. The readers follow a
mother and her curious son on their long journey from a quite bay
where Dilo was born, until the Seal Island, where the mother gets
caught in a net and dies. During the journey Dilo learns a lot
about himself and the life in the sea. Even that the dolphins are
partly "human-made", they live in harmony with their
nature, and you get a good knowledge about their behaviour. The
writer is trustworthy and engaged with his professional knowledge
in fictional form. A bit less convincing is his attempt to pull
out the description of mutual connection between everything alive
to be connected with "life on the other side" to make
the dead of the mother more soft. The book cover a wide field,
from small gay episodes, where Dilo frisk about in joy or make
mistakes because of not knowing until more poetic passages. The
illustrations emphasises first and foremost the humour.
Jytte Kjær Schou
Lektørudtalelse (00/02) 2 269 193 7
Dobbs, Horace E.: Dilo og røsten fra dybet/på dansk ved Alice
Skriver Lotus 111 sider
The cover shows a beautiful dolphin from more sides with deep-sea colour as background. The book is printed with blue and the illustrations of Richard Oldfield are also made in blue. The history about the dolphin Dilo and his mother is a bit stationary. There is not a growing excitement curve to keep the reader, but the poetic way the book describe the ocean and the writers clearly excitement for dolphins does that the book anyway occupies you. The book is about Dilo and he learns a lot from his mother before she dies in a net. Through the book the reader get a lot of knowledge. The writer is a dolphin expert and has founded International Dolphin Watch. The Danish translator Alice Skriver gives in her foreword a history look of the dolphins signification for the human being. The book ends with a letter from the writer to all Danish children. There is an e-mail address, to where the children can write questions or tell about their dolphin experiences. It is popular to work with dolphins in middle-school and this book can be used as theme from 3rd 5th Class or as free-reading for the same group.
Lis Mikkelsen (S)